Written Answers Wednesday 26 January 2005

Scottish Executive

Autism

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its strategy is to promote inclusion of children and young people with autistic spectrum disorders in mainstream schools.

Peter Peacock: Under Section 15 of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000, local authorities have a duty to educate all children and young persons, including those with autistic spectrum disorders, in mainstream schools unless certain exceptional circumstances apply.

  Over £50 million is being provided in 2005-06 to local authorities to promote inclusive practice in mainstream schools; to increase school staff development and training opportunities, and to improve accessibility to schools and the curriculum for children with disabilities, including those with autistic spectrum disorders.

  In addition, during 2005-06 Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education will undertake a specific inspection of educational provision for children and young people with autistic spectrum disorders across Scotland. The outcome will be a report which outlines the current position, highlights good practice and provides recommendations for moving forward.

Civil Servants

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many civil servants it expects to employ in 2014-15.

Mr Tom McCabe: The size and make-up of the staffing of the Scottish Executive is mainly determined by the elected party’s programme for government. Development of the programme is usually based on decisions taken by ministers during the normal four year cycle of the Parliament. There are no indications yet of the policies that will be required to benefit the people of Scotland in 2014-15.

Community Care

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what performance indicators are in place to monitor the promotion of direct payments by local authorities.

Rhona Brankin: The Executive is promoting uptake of direct payments in a range of ways, including extending to include older people with effect from April 2005. While there are no performance indicators in place to monitor the promotion of direct payments by local authorities at present, consideration is being given to using performance indicators to monitor future uptake.

Community Care

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Deputy Minister for Education and Young People has met Aberdeen City Council to discuss its children’s services budget and, if so, what the outcome was.

Euan Robson: No. However, my colleague Tavish Scott, Deputy Minister for Finance, Public Service Reform and Parliamentary Business met with them on 1 October 2004. I have also had subsequent correspondence with them and suggested that they explore their concerns about the grant distribution formula with COSLA as any changes to that formula would impact on other authorities.

Crime

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of retail crime is drug related.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is not available. Recorded crime statistics do not distinguish "retail crimes" or provide information on the motivation for crimes. The only available information on retail crime comes from an annual survey of retail companies conducted since 2000 by the Scottish Retail Consortium, which estimates the cost to businesses of retail crime. However, the results from this survey do not identify the proportion of retail crime which is drug related.

Dentistry

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12427 by Rhona Brankin on 6 December 2004, whether the information in both tables could be presented in respect of non-salaried general dental practice closures.

Rhona Brankin: The information requested is shown in the following tables.

  The Number of Non-Salaried Dental Practices in Scotland that Ceased Providing NHS General Dental Services1; Year Ending March

  

NHS Board Area
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04


Ayrshire and Arran
1
2
3
0
0


Borders
0
0
0
0
0


Argyll and Clyde
0
0
2
0
1


Fife
0
0
2
1
1


Greater Glasgow
2
2
4
4
2


Highland
3
3
1
2
0


Lanarkshire
1
0
1
1
0


Grampian
0
0
2
1
3


Orkney
0
0
0
0
0


Lothian
2
3
2
3
5


Tayside
2
2
1
2
6


Forth Valley
0
1
0
2
0


Western Isles
1
0
0
0
0


Dumfries and Galloway
0
2
0
0
0


Shetland
0
1
0
0
0


Scotland
12
16
18
16
18



  The Number of Non-Salaried Dental Practices in Scotland that Began Providing NHS General Dental Services1; Year Ending March

  

NHS Board Area
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04


Ayrshire and Arran
2
0
0
1
0


Borders
1
0
0
0
0


Argyll and Clyde
2
0
0
0
2


Fife
0
0
0
1
0


Greater Glasgow
2
1
3
3
4


Highland
0
2
0
1
1


Lanarkshire
1
2
1
3
0


Grampian
1
0
2
0
2


Orkney
0
0
0
0
0


Lothian
1
4
1
1
1


Tayside
1
1
2
2
2


Forth Valley
0
0
2
0
0


Western Isles
0
0
0
0
0


Dumfries and Galloway
2
2
0
0
0


Shetland
0
0
0
0
0


Scotland
13
12
11
12
12



  Source: MIDAS (Management Information and Dental Accounting System).

  Note: 1. Some dental practices may cease providing NHS general dental services permanently, while some may do so only temporarily.

Disclosure Scotland

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many will be retained as volunteers following implementation of the Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003, in light of possible delays in processing Disclosure Scotland forms.

Cathy Jamieson: Over the past five months, all correctly completed applications have been issued in under 14 working days from the time of receipt at Disclosure Scotland.

  At 11 January 2005, the Central Registered Body Scotland (CRBS) (which handles applications from the voluntary sector in Scotland) was dealing with applications received on 5 January 2005.

  Disclosure Scotland, CRBS and the Scottish Executive will closely monitor the impact of the Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003 on application volume to ensure that applications continue to be processed timeously.

Disclosure Scotland

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding was allocated to Disclosure Scotland in each year since its establishment and what targets Disclosure Scotland has in respect of staff recruitment in 2005.

Cathy Jamieson: Disclosure Scotland is financed by the share of income Scottish ministers receive from the sale of certificates and through additional support from ministers as necessary. Disclosure Scotland began operations in April 2002, and the income from the sale of certificates and support from ministers is set out below. The support from ministers includes expenditure to cover the cost of free checks for volunteers in Scotland.

  

Year
Gross Support
from Ministers
Income from Certificates
Net Support
from Ministers


2002-03 
£3,554,080
£802,000
£2,752,080


2003-04
£3,647,918
£1,779,662
£1,868,256


2004-05 (projected)
£3,615,000
£2,106,000
£1,509,000



  The staffing complement at Disclosure Scotland is kept under review to ensure that there are sufficient resources to respond to demand. This is informed by daily measurement of processing capacity and applications received. In the event that the volume of applications shows signs of outstripping processing capacity, immediate action will be taken to address this including recruiting additional staff if necessary.

Emergency Planning

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a decontamination service will be set up.

Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive is responsible for dealing with the outcome in Scotland of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) incidents, and for post-incident remediation. The UK Government and Scottish ministers have agreed to set up a Government Decontamination Service (GDS), which will be an Executive Agency of the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. The Executive has been closely involved in planning for the new Service and has provided financial support. There will be a Joint Ministerial Board with representatives from the UK Government, Scottish ministers and other Devolved Administrations. The GDS will be able to provide advice and guidance to Scottish authorities responsible for decontamination after an incident. Scottish ministers will report to the Scottish Parliament on the agency’s activities in the usual way. GDS officials will visit Scotland soon to meet stakeholders to inform decisions on how to develop the service for Scotland.

Energy

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many renewables certificates it has issued to Scottish Power to burn waste-derived fuel at Longannet Power Station in each of the last five years.

Mr Jim Wallace: Renewables Obligation Certificates are issued by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) and not by the Scottish Executive. This information is available via Ofgem’s website at http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem/work/index.jsp?section=/areasofwork/renewableobligation .

Equality

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on promoting gender equality in local authorities in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004, broken down by local authority.

Malcolm Chisholm: This is a matter for local authorities. The information requested is not held centrally.

Fuel Duty

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will request that the surplus of approximately £10 million held by Ofgem from the Scottish fossil fuel levy fund be transferred to the Scottish Consolidated Fund for the purpose of promoting renewables and what information it has on why this surplus has not been transferred previously.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Fossil Fuel Levy surplus only became available following the enactment of the provisions of the Energy Act 2004. In accordance with the provisions of the act, we will bring forward in due course for the consideration of the Parliament proposals for using this funding for further supporting renewable energy projects. If these proposals are approved, we will request Ofgem to release the amount of funding required into the Scottish Consolidated Fund.

Health

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what provision is available for the treatment of brain injuries.

Mr Andy Kerr: Treatment of brain injury is usually considered in terms of acute medical or surgical management and rehabilitation. Rehabilitation has both in-patient, out-patient and community based components.

  There are neurosurgical centres in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow that provide specialist acute care for severe head injuries requiring intensive care or neurosurgery. Those not requiring specialist neurosurgery are treated in short stay accident and emergency wards or within orthopaedic or general surgery services in the general hospital.

  There are hospital in-patient rehabilitation medicine services in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Fife, Glasgow and Greenock. There are also limited in-patient facilities in Dumfries, Inverness and Stirling. These centres cater for a range of neurological conditions in addition to acquired brain injury (ABI). These centres also provide variable levels of out-patient services.

  There are a number of community-based initiatives aimed at brain injured patients, not necessarily with rehabilitation medicine specialist input. Community rehabilitation involves many other services than health – particularly social work, education, employment and housing – and the voluntary sector.

Health

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many brain injury specialist consultants are employed in Scottish hospitals.

Mr Andy Kerr: Brain injury is not recognised as a specialty in its own right in the UK. Most neurosurgeons and neuroanaesthetists would be regarded as specialists in acute treatment of head injury.

  In terms of rehabilitation, there are 11 consultants in rehabilitation medicine whose work involves a significant element of brain injury rehabilitation. Most rehabilitation centres that deal with brain injury have consultant neuropsychologist support. Information on the number of consultant neuropsychologists whose work involves a significant element of brain injury rehabilitation is not held centrally.

Health

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specialist centres are available for the treatment of brain injuries in Scotland.

Mr Andy Kerr: There are three specialist centres in Scotland: The Astley Ainslie Hospital, Edinburgh (Scottish Brain Injury Rehabilitation Service); Murdostoun Castle (Central Scotland Brain Injury Centre), and the Royal Edinburgh Hospital (Scottish Neurobehavioural Service).

  Murdostoun Castle is in the private sector but accepts patients funded by NHS boards or social work departments.

Hepatitis

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers hepatitis C and hepatitis B to be major public health issues and what plans it has to address these issues.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Executive considers all bloodborne viruses including hepatitis and HIV/AIDS to be major public health issues. Unlike hepatitis B, there is no vaccine to protect against hepatitis C.

  Action on this front will reflect recommendations from the Advisory Group on Hepatitis, which provides the UK Health Departments with expert advice on the prevention and control of viral hepatitis. At present, immunisation for hepatitis B is recommended in individuals who are at increased risk because of their lifestyle, occupation or other factors, such as close contact with a case or carrier.

  With reference to the Executive’s plans to address hepatitis C, I refer the member to the question S2W-13550 answered on 24 January 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Hepatitis

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to estimate how many people have hepatitis C but have not yet been diagnosed.

Mr Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answers to questions S2W-13550 and S2W-13552, on 24 January 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Hepatitis

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many hepatitis C patients there were in (a) Scotland as a whole and (b) each NHS board area in 2004.

Mr Andy Kerr: The latest information available from Health Protection is as follows:

  

NHS Board
Reports


Argyll and Clyde 
1,154


Ayrshire and Arran
920


Borders
89


Dumfries and Galloway
389


Fife 
456


Forth Valley 
730


Grampian
2,483


Greater Glasgow
6,484


Highland 
355


Lanarkshire 
1,080


Lothian
2,461


Orkney
12


Shetland
28


Tayside
1,465


Western Isles
3


Scotland 
18,109



  Source: Health Protection Scotland, as at 31 December 2003.

Holyrood Inquiry

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-10833 by Margaret Curran on 12 October 2004, whether it has sought and obtained the views of the Presiding Officer, other members of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) and other interested parties on whether to pursue the recommendation in Lord Fraser’s report to amend the Scotland Act 1998 in respect of the powers of the SPCB; if such views have not yet been obtained, when it will seek them, and, if such views have been sought, whether it will place the responses received in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Executive has no plans to make representations to Her Majesty’s Government in respect of amending section 21 of the Scotland Act 1998. However, that position is open to review in the event of any approach on this matter from the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body.

Justice

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the time delay is between first diet and trial diet in the stipendiary courts in Glasgow District Court.

Cathy Jamieson: The management of the Stipendiary Magistrate Courts in Glasgow and the effective use of court time is the responsibility of Glasgow District Court.

  All custody cases will be set for trial within 40 days of the pleading diet. For all other cases, as at 22 December 2004, the average period of time between pleading diet and trial diet at the Stipendiary Magistrate Courts in Glasgow varied between six and 11 months. As with all courts, non-custody cases will be set for earlier trial diets if a slot becomes available because another trial is disposed of in advance.

Justice

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) reports to procurators fiscal, (b) proceedings taken by procurators fiscal and (c) convictions in respect of offences that were racially aggravated, as defined in section 96 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, there have been in each year since 1999.

Colin Boyd QC: The collation and analysis of the relevant information for this parliamentary question means that it cannot be answered by the deadline. I will write providing a detailed answer to the question as soon as the collation and analysis is complete.

Justice

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) reports were made to procurators fiscal, (b) proceedings were taken by procurators fiscal and (c) convictions were made under sections (i) 3(1), (ii) 4(1) and (iii) 5(3) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in each year since 1999, broken down by sheriff court district.

Colin Boyd QC: The collation and analysis of the relevant information for this parliamentary question means that it cannot be answered by the deadline. I will write providing a detailed answer to the question as soon as the collation and analysis is complete.

Justice

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12015 by Cathy Jamieson on 8 December 2004, whether it has any proposals for addressing the current level of arrears of financial penalties imposed by the courts.

Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answers to questions S2W-12013 and S2W-12014, on 19 November 2004, detailing the measures already available to enforce or encourage the payment of financial penalties. The question S2W–12015, answered on 8 December 2004, made clear that over half the outstanding balance awaiting collection relates to accounts within their valid payment period. Collection levels have been steadily improving over recent years, with over 80% of all financial penalties imposed in the sheriff and High Court in 2001-02 (the most recent year in which the majority of fine accounts are now closed) collected in full.

  The McInnes report made a number of recommendations aimed at improving the regime for collecting financial penalties. Consideration is currently being given to those recommendations.

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many convictions were obtained by speed cameras in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Cathy Jamieson: Convictions obtained by speed cameras are not separately identifiable in the statistical information held centrally. Information on the number of police conditional offers for speeding offences which were detected automatically is given in table 17 of statistical bulletin Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts 2002 published by the Scottish Executive in February 2004, a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 31304).

Landfill

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in implementing those parts of the Landfill Directive relating to the engineering, operation and regulation of landfill sites.

Ross Finnie: These parts of the directive have been transposed by the Landfill (Scotland) Regulations 2003, which came into force on 10 April 2003. Oversight of the engineering, operation and regulation of landfill sites is a matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Language

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12769 by Peter Peacock on 17 December 2004, how it interprets the phrase "equal status" with regard to the Gaelic and English languages.

Peter Peacock: There are varying interpretations of this phrase which depend on the aim being pursued and the context in which it is used. The Executive understands the Gaelic community’s aspiration for "equal status" to be that the Gaelic language should not be regarded as a lesser form of communication than English and, as such opportunities for its use should be encouraged where possible and appropriate. However, if this phrase were to feature in primary legislation it could lead to a wider unintended interpretation.

Language

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12769 by Peter Peacock on 17 December 2004, how it interprets the phrase "official status" with regard to the Gaelic and English languages.

Peter Peacock: There are varying interpretations of this phrase which depend on the aim being pursued and the context in which it is used. The Executive understands this phrase to mean that the Gaelic language is recognised in the administrative policies and procedures of government and public bodies. These include spending on the language, inclusion in Acts of Parliament and parliamentary procedures and ministerial responsibility for the language.

Local Government

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12721 by Tom McCabe on 15 December 2004, whether the taxable status of the severance payments referred to is a reserved matter for determination in accordance with the provisions of the Income and Corporation Taxes Acts and what advice has been sought from (a) HM Treasury and (b) the Inland Revenue in respect of the likely tax treatment of such payments with a view to informing the deliberations of the Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee.

Tom McCabe: No such advice has been sought. Detailed arrangements for the severance scheme will be considered by the Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee which will be established under the provisions of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. We would expect that committee to take whatever advice it considers appropriate in formulating its recommendations.

Maternity Services

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-5284 by Hugh Henry on 14 January 2004, how many babies were born with a drug addiction in (a) 2002-03 and (b) 2003-04, broken down by NHS board area and expressed also per capita.

Hugh Henry: The available information on babies discharged from Neonatal Units with a diagnosis involving drug misuse is shown in Tables 1a and 1b . Data for 2003-04 is not yet available.

  Table 1a All Births1,2,3 and Neonatal Discharges4 Recording Drug Misuse5,6; Numbers and Rates Per 1,000 Births

  

 
All Births
2002-03P
Neonatal Discharges Recording Drug Misuse
2002-03P
Rate Per 1,000 Births Within NHS Board Area
2002-03P


Argyll and Clyde
3,987
 33 
 8.28 


Ayrshire and Arran
3,453
 21 
 6.08 


Borders
971
 ** 
 ** 


Dumfries and Galloway
1,313
 10 
 7.62 


Fife
3,498
 18 
 5.15 


Forth Valley
2,832
 15 
 5.30 


Grampian
5,305
 72 
 13.57 


Greater Glasgow
9,194
 26 
 2.83 


Highland
1,962
 6 
 3.06 


Islands
628
 - 
 - 


Lanarkshire
5,945
 27 
 4.54 


Lothian
7,976
 22 
 2.76 


Tayside
3,730
 19 
 5.09 



  PProvisional.

  Source: SMR02, SBR and SMR11.

  Notes:

  1. Excludes home births and births at non-NHS hospitals.

  2. Includes all live births and stillbirths.

  3. From 1998, where four or more babies are involved in a pregnancy, birth details are recorded for the first three babies. Prior to 1998, birth details were recorded only for the first two babies delivered.

  4. A baby may be admitted to and discharged from neonatal care more than once. Figures relate to the total number of discharges, not to the number of individual babies.

  5. Drug misuse is defined using the following International Classification of Disease (10th Revision) codes :

  P04.4 - Fetus and newborn affected by maternal use of drugs of addiction

  P96.1 - Neonatal withdrawal symptoms from maternal use of drugs of addiction

  6. Care should be taken when interpreting these data as recording practice of drug misuse diagnosis may vary between hospitals. In addition, the Scottish Birth Record (which replaces SMR11) is currently being incrementally implemented throughout Scotland and therefore should be treated with caution. These reasons may explain some of the variation between NHS boards.

  ** - In order to maintain patient confidentiality, values of 1 and over and less than five have been suppressed.

  Table 1b Neonatal Discharges1 Recording Drug Misuse2,3; Numbers and Rates Per 100,000 Population

  

 
Mid Year Estimate of Population
2002
Neonatal Discharges Recording Drug Misuse
2002-03P
Discharges Per 100,000 Population Within NHS Board Area
2002-03P


Argyll and Clyde
418,750
 33 
 78.81 


Ayrshire and Arran
367,060
 21 
 57.21 


Borders
107,400
 ** 
 ** 


Dumfries and Galloway
147,310
 10 
 67.88 


Fife
350,620
 18 
 51.34 


Forth Valley
279,370
 15 
 53.69 


Grampian
523,290
 72 
 137.59 


Greater Glasgow
866,080
 26 
 30.02 


Highland
208,140
 6 
 28.83 


Islands
67,350
 - 
 - 


Lanarkshire
552,910
 27 
 48.83 


Lothian
779,100
 22 
 28.24 


Tayside
387,420
 19 
 49.04 



  PProvisional.

  Source: SMR02, SMR11, SBR and GRO(S) mid year population estimates.

  Notes:

  1. A baby may be admitted to and discharged from neonatal care more than once. Figures relate to the total number of discharges, not to the number of individual babies.

  2. Drug misuse is defined using the following International Classification of Disease (10th Revision) codes :

  P04.4 - Fetus and newborn affected by maternal use of drugs of addiction

  P96.1 - Neonatal withdrawal symptoms from maternal use of drugs of addiction

  3. Care should be taken when interpreting these data as recording practice of drug misuse diagnosis may vary between hospitals. In addition the Scottish Birth Record (which replaces SMR11) is currently being incrementaly implemented throughout Scotland and therefore should be treated with caution. These reasons may explain some of the variation between NHS boards.

  ** - In order to maintain patient confidentiality, values of one and over and less than five have been suppressed.

NHS Expenditure

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its publications previously distributed by The Stationery Office to NHS libraries post-free will continue to be post-free under the Blackwells’ contract for distribution of these documents.

Mr Tom McCabe: Blackwell’s bookshop is the official outlet for Scottish publications under the Design, Print, Publishing and Associated Services contract which was awarded to Astron on 4 August 2004. Blackwell’s do not charge postage for distributing Scottish Executive publications to customers.

NHS Expenditure

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether NHS budgets will be increased to accommodate any increased cost associated with receiving publications previously distributed post-free by The Stationery Office and which are now being distributed by Blackwells.

Mr Andy Kerr: No increase in NHS budgets is necessary. Although initially Blackwells were charging for distribution of publications, this ceased on 16 December 2004. All such distribution costs incurred by NHS boards prior to 16 December 2004 are to be reimbursed.

NHS Staff

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether all new doctors from other countries are placed in overseen appointments for an appropriate period prior to practising independently to ensure that they are fully aware of all NHS protocols, procedures and administrative requirements.

Mr Andy Kerr: Any doctor wishing to work in Scotland or the rest of the UK must be registered with the General Medical Council. Qualifications, skill, and experience will dictate whether the doctor is eligible for full or limited registration. All doctors with limited registration are eligible only for supervised posts, until they meet the criteria for full registration All appointment procedures are designed to ensure that doctors are fit for purpose for the particular post to which they are appointed. It is an essential component of the recruitment process by NHS Scotland boards to ensure that all doctors have a full and complete induction process which would embrace NHS protocols and administrative procedures.

People with Disabilities

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on promoting disability equality in local authorities in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004, broken down by local authority.

Malcolm Chisholm: This is a matter for local authorities. The information requested is not held centrally.

Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will reply to Alex Salmond MP’s letter of 18 November 2004 regarding the Protection of Children (Scotland) Act 2003.

Euan Robson: A full reply to Mr Salmond’s letter of 18 November was sent on 19 January 2005. The reply was delayed so that it could reflect the outcome of further consideration of the implementation of the 2003 Act on which final announcements were made on 22 December 2004.

Public Transport

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is of construction of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link on the basis of the proposals currently being consulted on and, in particular, what the estimated cost is of each of the options for the playing fields at St James Park, Paisley.

Nicol Stephen: Based on the current proposals, the estimated cost of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link is £140 million. Strathclyde Passenger Transport’s consultation gives two options for the St James Spur: building the line either on a viaduct or an embankment. A comparative cost estimate has been made between the two, giving indicative costs of £11,000 and £9,500 per linear metre respectively. For robustness, the estimated total figure of £140 million assumes that the viaduct - the more expensive option - will be implemented. However, no decision has been made about the preferred spur option at this stage, reflecting on-going public consultation and consideration of a number of issues, such as severance of playing fields and the visual impact of the scheme.

Rail Network

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Strathclyde Passenger Transport will continue to have a direct role in the management and development of rail services in the west of Scotland in the future.

Nicol Stephen: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-12526, on 20 December 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Regional Selective Assistance

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications have been (a) received and (b) approved for regional selective assistance (RSA) in each Scottish parliamentary constituency; what the value was of the total investment in each constituency; what total amount of funding was (a) applied for and (b) approved in each constituency; what the estimate was of the number of jobs to be (a) created and (b) safeguarded as a result of the assistance in each constituency, and how many jobs have actually been (a) created or (b) safeguarded in each constituency, in each of the last five years.

Allan Wilson: The following tables provide the information requested in the first seven elements of the question for the last five calendar years to end December 2004. However, information on the number of jobs actually created or safeguarded is not readily available. This is because RSA projects usually take several years to complete and not all proceed as planned. Some projects may create more jobs than anticipated, some are scaled down and some are abandoned before payment of RSA is made.

  RSA is a discretionary scheme and each grant is negotiated individually on the basis of the minimum necessary to secure the project concerned. RSA is only available in those areas of Scotland designated for regional aid by the European Commission, which also sets the maximum limits on the aid that can potentially be offered towards each project. It should also be noted that the figures for grant offered in the attached tables include projects where grant was based on the related capital investment and those where the grant was based on the salary costs of new jobs created.

  Calendar Year 2000

  

Scottish Parliamentary Constituency
Applications
Offers Made
Grant Applied For
Grant Offered
Planned Capital Expenditure at Offer
Planned New Jobs
Planned Safeguarded Jobs


Unallocated *
5
0
£467,000
£0
 
 
 


Airdrie and Shotts
2
2
£100,000
£75,000
£387,745
10
0


Angus
1
1
£178,000
£178,000
£775,000
17
0


Ayr
1
1
£20,000
£20,000
£66,000
5
0


Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley
2
0
£90,000
£0
 
 
 


Central Fife
13
10
£9,832,531
£9,250,000
£46,355,000
754
41


Clydebank and Milngavie
3
2
£2,812,000
£1,462,000
£4,966,000
187
0


Clydesdale
3
2
£84,200
£59,000
£287,000
6
1


Coatbridge and Chryston
4
4
£253,000
£228,000
£911,000
28
67


Cumbernauld and Kilsyth
4
4
£631,500
£415,000
£2,030,314
120
8


Cunninghame North
1
1
£64,000
£64,000
£340,000
8
0


Cunninghame South
4
4
£1,225,000
£1,095,000
£7,186,000
96
199


Dumbarton
2
2
£1,900,000
£1,100,000
£3,770,000
190
2


Dundee East
6
5
£1,365,000
£1,085,000
£5,964,000
118
193


Dundee West
4
3
£2,794,600
£2,144,000
£14,192,000
1,018
38


Dunfermline East
4
2
£368,000
£275,000
£1,544,000
107
90


Dunfermline West
2
1
£42,600
£35,000
£135,000
8
0


East Kilbride
5
4
£3,171,000
£2,445,000
£9,775,000
273
5


Falkirk East
2
1
£710,000
£480,000
£3,622,000
30
50


Falkirk West
1
1
£50,000
£75,000
£250,000
7
38


Galloway and Upper Nithsdale
2
2
£57,160
£57,000
£275,000
10
0


Glasgow Anniesland
1
1
£22,000
£22,000
£108,000
4
0


Glasgow Govan
2
2
£60,000
£55,000
£213,000
4
4


Glasgow Kelvin
10
6
£3,891,750
£2,250,000
£9,056,500
635
101


Glasgow Maryhill
6
5
£1,728,600
£1,387,000
£7,019,335
162
21


Glasgow Pollok
1
0
£19,000
£0
 
 
 


Glasgow Rutherglen
3
2
£185,000
£60,000
£327,000
9
4


Glasgow Shettleston
6
5
£608,000
£550,000
£2,952,000
45
65


Greenock and Inverclyde
1
1
£25,000
£25,000
£63,515
6
0


Hamilton North and Bellshill
10
8
£1,782,000
£1,408,000
£7,531,000
310
12


Kilmarnock and Loudoun
8
7
£803,500
£703,000
£3,418,251
264
20


Kirkcaldy
1
1
£100,000
£100,000
£455,000
15
0


Linlithgow
1
0
£14,464,000
£0
 
 
 


Livingston
5
4
£1,390,000
£790,000
£3,993,000
76
0


Midlothian
1
0
£2,500,000
£0
 
 
 


Ochil
5
4
£1,315,625
£1,210,000
£6,699,000
139
125


Paisley North
5
4
£380,000
£246,500
£1,191,000
18
29


Paisley South
1
0
£150,000
£0
 
 
 


Roxburgh and Berwickshire
6
4
£1,720,000
£1,277,200
£6,175,350
119
48


Stirling
1
1
£35,000
£22,000
£91,000
6
0


Strathkelvin and Bearsden
1
1
£250,000
£250,000
£1,330,000
0
270


Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale
4
3
£2,072,000
£1,650,000
£8,575,172
502
53


West Renfrewshire
5
5
£3,664,000
£2,390,500
£11,113,000
389
30


Total
155
116
£63,381,066
£34,938,200
£173,142,182
5,695
1,514



  Note: *Unallocated – At the time of application/offer the exact location of these projects had still to be decided by the company.

  Calendar Year 2001

  

Scottish Parliamentary Constituency 
Applications
Offers Made
Grant Applied For
Grant Offered
Planned Capital Expenditure at Offer
Planned New Jobs
Planned Safeguarded Jobs


Airdrie and Shotts
3
3
£1,867,000
£617,000
£3,028,000
112
0


Angus
3
3
£1,038,000
£1,038,000
£4,865,000
85
17


Ayr
2
1
£2,215,000
£2,100,000
£15,000,000
97
0


Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley
7
5
£1,404,900
£655,000
£4,184,500
83
19


Central Fife
5
4
£3,708,000
£3,206,400
£21,409,000
180
127


Clydebank and Milngavie
1
1
£25,000
£25,000
£72,000
3
0


Clydesdale
3
1
£142,700
£120,000
£579,000
8
12


Coatbridge and Chryston
2
1
£42,400
£22,400
£96,000
3
0


Cumbernauld and Kilsyth
8
8
£1,343,600
£1,091,000
£5,737,400
112
84


Cunninghame North
6
5
£2,164,000
£1,618,000
£7,516,000
260
56


Cunninghame South
9
7
£4,618,320
£4,527,500
£22,583,454
236
365


Dumbarton
2
1
£325,000
£30,000
£109,000
40
0


Dundee East
4
4
£735,000
£805,000
£4,481,000
51
258


Dundee West
2
2
£284,000
£284,000
£1,350,000
33
0


Dunfermline East
4
3
£4,670,000
£2,160,000
£10,486,000
107
20


Dunfermline West
2
2
£1,150,000
£1,150,000
£6,246,000
20
184


East Kilbride
16
12
£4,747,074
£3,401,000
£19,478,312
168
333


Eastwood
1
0
£9,500
£0
 
 
 


Edinburgh West
1
1
£250,000
£200,000
£1,621,000
65
0


Falkirk East
4
1
£1,480,000
£1,000,000
£8,266,000
30
40


Falkirk West
4
3
£8,255,000
£1,305,000
£10,684,000
76
66


Galloway and Upper Nithsdale
2
2
£300,000
£250,000
£1,140,000
8
60


Glasgow Baillieston
4
1
£209,600
£30,000
£85,000
4
0


Glasgow Govan
3
2
£321,250
£275,000
£1,605,000
44
4


Glasgow Kelvin
28
19
£41,252,733
£15,499,000
£49,915,172
2,287
93


Glasgow Maryhill
5
5
£613,000
£540,000
£4,135,000
32
26


Glasgow Pollok
6
4
£1,090,000
£750,000
£2,414,000
154
3


Glasgow Rutherglen
4
3
£666,000
£625,000
£3,065,000
30
50


Glasgow Shettleston
4
3
£213,000
£163,000
£651,000
14
11


Glasgow Springburn
2
2
£92,000
£92,000
£203,000
16
0


Greenock and Inverclyde
2
1
£69,000
£9,000
£41,000
2
0


Hamilton North and Bellshill
14
13
£5,467,430
£3,559,000
£17,206,836
343
238


Hamilton South
1
1
£750,000
£750,000
£6,810,000
37
13


Kilmarnock and Loudoun
12
9
£1,571,000
£1,814,000
£7,139,000
86
107


Kirkcaldy
5
2
£1,448,500
£53,000
£252,000
7
0


Linlithgow
3
1
£8,382,000
£4,000,000
£33,000,000
350
0


Livingston
16
14
£8,401,450
£5,711,000
£44,765,000
565
68


Motherwell and Wishaw
3
3
£276,000
£276,000
£1,426,000
20
19


North East Fife
1
1
£35,000
£35,000
£252,000
6
0


Ochil
8
6
£2,660,000
£2,165,000
£28,085,000
194
148


Paisley North
9
7
£836,000
£615,000
£2,671,000
78
37


Paisley South
1
0
£52,000
£0
 
 
 


Roxburgh and Berwickshire
5
4
£1,156,750
£1,089,000
£6,663,000
112
13


Stirling
4
3
£1,382,000
£1,005,000
£7,409,000
155
102


Strathkelvin and Bearsden
3
2
£1,435,000
£1,100,000
£6,022,000
67
108


Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale
1
1
£24,000
£24,000
£119,000
4
5


West Renfrewshire
2
2
£279,450
£276,000
£1,548,000
41
0


Total
237
179
£119,457,657
£66,060,300
£374,413,674
6,425
2,686



  Calendar Year 2002

  

Scottish Parliamentary Constituency
Applications
Count
Grant Applied For
Grant Offered
Planned Capital Expenditure at Offer
Planned New Jobs
Planned Safeguarded Jobs


Airdrie and Shotts
1
1
£18,050
£25,000
£90,250
0
4


Angus
3
2
£180,500
£150,000
£883,500
18
12


Ayr 
3
3
£7,100,000
£3,729,999
£18,802,000
396
246


Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley
1
0
£100,000
£0
 
 
 


Central Fife 
7
5
£825,000
£535,000
£2,212,000
10
161


Clydebank and Milngavie
1
1
£20,000
£20,000
£40,000
2
0


Coatbridge and Chryston
5
5
£430,380
£402,000
£1,889,000
78
0


Cumbernauld and Kilsyth
10
8
£1,077,500
£979,000
£4,286,000
151
56


Cunninghame North
6
4
£3,745,200
£1,242,000
£4,237,000
207
22


Cunninghame South
8
6
£2,484,000
£1,734,000
£6,787,000
27
168


Dumbarton
4
4
£381,000
£380,000
£1,621,000
85
22


Dundee East
1
1
£129,130
£130,000
£440,000
24
0


Dundee West
5
5
£3,450,000
£3,050,000
£12,636,000
297
19


Dunfermline East
1
1
£67,000
£67,000
£335,000
16
0


Dunfermline West
3
3
£3,430,000
£2,844,375
£24,371,000
923
200


East Kilbride 
15
15
£8,889,600
£5,867,000
£24,046,035
313
400


Eastwood
1
0
£20,000
£0
 
 
 


Edinburgh Pentlands
3
2
£2,000,000
£750,000
£7,793,000
49
21


Edinburgh West
1
1
£250,000
£170,000
£110,000
19
0


Falkirk East
3
2
£1,550,000
£2,000,000
£13,275,000
63
260


Falkirk West
9
7
£3,896,735
£3,645,000
£22,286,500
67
993


Galloway and Upper Nithsdale
3
1
£2,831,000
£2,800,000
£9,400,000
39
94


Glasgow Anniesland
1
1
£500,000
£500,000
£2,812,000
0
50


Glasgow Baillieston
2
2
£70,000
£71,000
£355,000
10
0


Glasgow Cathcart
1
1
£35,000
£35,000
£140,000
5
0


Glasgow Govan
5
4
£370,000
£330,000
£1,190,000
33
5


Glasgow Kelvin
31
23
£6,338,500
£4,684,000
£12,604,184
697
35


Glasgow Maryhill
6
5
£882,000
£454,000
£2,010,000
48
0


Glasgow Pollok
1
1
£38,000
£30,000
£160,000
4
0


Glasgow Rutherglen
5
4
£1,792,000
£1,681,000
£8,137,000
181
124


Glasgow Shettleston
7
6
£544,000
£435,000
£1,930,605
68
20


Glasgow Springburn
2
1
£1,000,000
£900,000
£7,578,000
39
14


Greenock and Inverclyde
4
4
£11,165,000
£8,865,000
£34,336,175
1,058
1,915


Hamilton North and Bellshill
11
10
£7,300,600
£6,915,000
£44,395,000
570
58


Hamilton South
4
4
£1,600,000
£1,595,000
£4,729,000
263
32


Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber
1
1
£1,240,000
£1,240,000
£4,133,000
0
149


Kilmarnock and Loudoun
8
6
£1,386,120
£1,152,000
£4,378,000
26
184


Kirkcaldy
1
1
£63,000
£60,000
£315,000
0
8


Linlithgow
2
1
£150,000
£100,000
£646,000
8
0


Livingston 
11
9
£4,900,000
£2,720,000
£22,126,000
218
131


Motherwell and Wishaw 
7
4
£1,991,800
£1,342,500
£2,862,000
302
99


Ochil
2
2
£247,000
£172,000
£684,000
13
7


Paisley North
12
11
£1,390,500
£865,000
£4,593,000
127
17


Paisley South
1
1
£800,000
£800,000
£8,214,000
0
110


Roxburgh and Berwickshire
4
3
£77,900
£48,000
£254,741
23
0


Stirling 
4
3
£1,176,000
£1,100,000
£1,634,000
141
0


Strathkelvin and Bearsden
1
1
£94,000
£80,000
£500,000
2
9


Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale
3
3
£699,000
£625,000
£3,158,000
66
2


West Renfrewshire 
7
5
£19,979,000
£15,790,000
£47,520,771
85
959


Total
238
194
£108,704,515
£83,109,874
£376,935,761
6,771
6,606



  Calendar Year 2003

  

Scottish Parliamentary Constituency
Applications
Offers Made
Grant Applied For
Grant Offered
Planned Capital Expenditure at Offer
Planned New Jobs
Planned Safeguarded Jobs


Unallocated *
9
2
£4,374,400
£250,000
£535,000
18
4


Airdrie and Shotts
2
1
£120,000
£50,000
£525,000
5
13


Angus
3
2
£269,660
£295,000
£1,003,000
14
15


Ayr
2
1
£250,000
£260,000
£960,000
18
22


Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley
3
3
£450,000
£435,000
£1,085,000
55
126


Central Fife
12
11
£2,531,000
£2,320,000
£9,796,000
164
90


Clydebank and Milngavie
7
5
£1,235,000
£386,000
£695,000
68
1


Clydesdale
1
1
£30,000
£35,000
£93,000
3
2


Coatbridge and Chryston
4
1
£386,000
£60,000
£153,000
7
0


Cumbernauld and Kilsyth
4
4
£1,160,000
£1,190,000
£1,965,000
24
255


Cunninghame North
2
2
£91,848
£82,000
£156,000
6
2


Cunninghame South
7
6
£2,264,000
£1,925,000
£8,429,000
196
300


Dundee East
3
2
£462,000
£442,000
£2,437,000
34
34


Dundee West
9
7
£1,337,500
£1,102,500
£5,663,000
74
99


Dunfermline East
9
7
£3,378,000
£1,888,000
£9,558,000
48
263


Dunfermline West
5
4
£3,198,000
£982,000
£3,588,900
50
44


East Kilbride
17
13
£12,239,000
£11,450,000
£57,607,900
96
886


Edinburgh North and Leith
1
0
£750,000
£0
 
 
 


Edinburgh West
1
1
£600,000
£600,000
£5,992,000
0
127


Falkirk East
1
1
£600,000
£600,000
£3,600,000
80
0


Falkirk West
3
2
£600,000
£950,000
£4,697,000
8
143


Galloway and Upper Nithsdale
3
1
£2,495,000
£625,000
£4,900,000
63
0


Glasgow Anniesland
3
1
£336,000
£300,000
£2,493,000
13
11


Glasgow Baillieston
3
1
£2,634,000
£2,500,000
£13,085,000
192
75


Glasgow Cathcart
1
1
£20,000
£20,000
£76,000
6
0


Glasgow Govan
7
4
£2,949,000
£2,661,999
£11,518,000
794
25


Glasgow Kelvin
18
13
£8,072,000
£4,055,000
£20,206,800
297
140


Glasgow Maryhill
6
4
£4,615,000
£1,580,000
£7,233,000
99
149


Glasgow Pollok
2
2
£135,000
£80,000
£228,000
5
7


Glasgow Rutherglen
3
3
£1,974,000
£2,010,000
£2,725,000
319
69


Glasgow Shettleston
5
4
£2,039,000
£1,675,000
£10,021,000
108
50


Glasgow Springburn
1
1
£10,000
£10,000
£30,000
2
4


Greenock and Inverclyde
4
4
£7,913,620
£6,900,000
£12,586,000
903
100


Hamilton North and Bellshill
12
11
£3,174,000
£2,839,000
£14,788,000
302
149


Hamilton South
7
6
£671,800
£631,000
£2,681,000
69
12


Kilmarnock and Loudoun
5
4
£237,000
£235,000
£773,000
23
6


Kirkcaldy
3
3
£1,250,000
£1,250,000
£2,548,000
298
24


Linlithgow
2
2
£400,000
£270,000
£2,580,000
30
0


Livingston
7
5
£818,500
£595,000
£2,170,000
124
5


Motherwell and Wishaw
5
4
£505,000
£325,000
£750,000
38
2


Ochil
11
8
£5,415,000
£1,262,000
£4,701,500
134
112


Paisley North
10
9
£2,451,800
£2,085,000
£9,035,541
102
100


Paisley South
3
2
£445,000
£292,000
£897,000
31
4


Roxburgh and Berwickshire
7
6
£662,250
£596,000
£3,184,000
56
25


Strathkelvin and Bearsden
1
1
£250,000
£300,000
£2,000,000
26
0


Stirling
1
0
£6,750
£0
 
 
 


Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale
1
1
£80,000
£90,000
£91,000
13
0


West Renfreshire
1
0
£96,000
£0
 
 
 


Total
237
177
£85,982,128
£58,489,499
£249,839,641
5,115
3,495



  * Unallocated – At the time of application/offer the exact location of these projects had still to be decided by the company.

  Calendar Year 2004

  

Scottish Parliamentary Constituency
Applications
Offers Made
Grant Applied For
Grant Offered
Planned Capital Expenditure at Offer
Planned New Jobs
Planned Safeguarded Jobs


Unallocated *
37
22
£23,241,000
£8,661,785
£9,370,110
1,700
23


Airdrie and Shotts
3
3
£337,500
£420,000
£1,552,000
37
4


Ayr 
2
2
£432,000
£520,000
£2,160,000
35
86


Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley
6
6
£990,000
£1,060,000
£4,759,000
113
79


Central Fife 
12
10
£2,773,000
£2,340,000
£6,241,609
404
50


Clydebank and Milngavie
7
3
£629,000
£310,000
£986,000
25
8


Coatbridge and Chryston
1
1
£250,000
£275,000
£613,000
55
0


Cumbernauld and Kilsyth
3
3
£1,095,000
£1,070,000
£3,088,000
68
79


Cunninghame North
2
2
£3,080,000
£3,050,000
£12,175,000
2
320


Cunninghame South
9
9
£2,730,300
£2,840,000
£9,987,000
151
338


Dumbarton
3
3
£162,000
£140,000
£308,000
20
0


Dundee East
1
1
£150,000
£100,000
£2,710,000
7
0


Dundee West
3
3
£1,880,000
£1,550,000
£4,126,000
203
86


Dunfermline West
1
1
£160,000
£160,000
£1,080,000
8
6


East Kilbride 
8
6
£8,068,000
£2,025,000
£7,367,000
192
34


Edinburgh North and Leith
1
0
£160,000
£0
 
 
 


Edinburgh Pentlands
1
1
£250,000
£200,000
£300,000
100
0


Edinburgh West
3
1
£4,630,000
£3,000,000
£30,000,000
40
320


Falkirk East
6
4
£1,890,000
£1,050,000
£9,202,000
25
80


Falkirk West
4
3
£1,310,000
£855,000
£3,521,000
61
65


Galloway and Upper Nithsdale
1
1
£54,740
£65,000
£238,000
3
4


Glasgow Anniesland
1
1
£75,000
£95,000
£1,025,000
10
0


Glasgow Cathcart
1
1
£2,900,000
£2,500,000
£11,047,000
0
208


Glasgow Govan
5
4
£227,000
£245,000
£1,855,000
27
0


Glasgow Kelvin
12
11
£4,251,000
£2,350,000
£3,872,000
625
7


Glasgow Maryhill
8
6
£648,267
£580,000
£1,150,500
97
0


Glasgow Pollok
3
3
£242,080
£220,000
£246,500
25
4


Glasgow Rutherglen
3
3
£525,000
£510,000
£1,590,000
36
40


Glasgow Shettleston
8
8
£4,124,500
£3,162,000
£19,088,000
45
385


Glasgow Springburn
1
0
£90,000
£0
 
 
 


Greenock and Inverclyde
2
1
£2,100,000
£1,500,000
£13,514,000
0
100


Hamilton North and Bellshill
6
6
£5,617,800
£5,315,000
£22,305,000
479
200


Hamilton South
2
2
£1,500,000
£1,250,000
£2,172,000
93
7


Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber
2
1
£500,000
£180,000
£1,413,000
2
24


Kilmarnock and Loudoun
4
3
£848,000
£660,000
£1,220,000
114
23


Kirkcaldy
4
3
£7,550,000
£2,640,000
£12,436,000
192
147


Linlithgow
3
0
£1,047,143
£0
 
 
 


Livingston 
10
7
£1,598,000
£1,320,000
£7,479,000
175
0


Motherwell and Wishaw 
5
4
£1,530,000
£1,485,000
£1,209,000
205
4


Ochil
5
2
£9,433,000
£140,000
£295,100
16
0


Paisley North
9
7
£1,456,000
£1,260,000
£6,542,000
252
110


Paisley South
1
1
£320,000
£360,000
£2,220,000
21
4


Roxburgh and Berwickshire
4
4
£685,020
£795,000
£6,352,000
67
15


Stirling 
1
1
£170,000
£120,000
£1,025,000
8
0


Strathkelvin and Bearsden
4
2
£205,000
£180,000
£185,000
18
0


Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale
4
3
£1,058,500
£535,000
£1,864,000
61
10


West Renfrewshire 
3
2
£3,250,000
£1,800,000
£2,725,000
493
0


Total
225
171
£106,223,850
£58,893,785
£232,613,819
6,310
2,870



  Note: *Unallocated – At the time of application/offer the exact location of these projects had still to be decided by the company.

Sport

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many  sportscotland awards were made in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002, (c) 2003 and (d) 2004, broken down by local authority area.

Patricia Ferguson: The nature of a number of programmes operated by  sportscotland means that it is not possible to identify which local authority area has benefited from a particular award. Those awards readily attributable to a particular local authority area are set out in the following table and cover the Sports Facilities programme, Awards for All, Major Events programme, TOP programme, School Sports Co-ordinator programme, social inclusion partnership programme and Talented Athlete programme although information on this programme is not included in year 2003-04 as Governing Bodies now submit group applications for athletes. Information is given by financial year.

  

Local Authority
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04


No
Value
No
Value
No
Value
No
Value


Aberdeen City 
15
215,105
19
183,540
22
319,815
9
1,309,696


Aberdeenshire
27
250,961
33
415,409
28
384,257
18
241,827


Angus
16
423,474
12
58,075
15
94,324
7
156,456


Argyll and Bute
22
563,743
28
260,595
35
440,787
9
735,508


City Of Edinburgh
86
578,734
100
936,132
116
2,898,187
26
730,031


Clackmannanshire
5
510,695
7
52,131
4
44,501
5
105,053


Dumfries and Galloway
20
745,283
36
521,379
33
670,856
16
608,902


Dundee City 
21
122,525
24
110,009
22
475,286
6
92,855


East Ayrshire
22
151,919
30
1,313,128
19
484,178
8
106,600


East Dunbartonshire 
17
608,919
16
71,345
18
394,191
6
187,428


East Lothian 
16
79,740
21
388,333
18
100,992
11
83,992


East Renfrewshire 
8
536,484
10
243,641
16
572,182
3
53,007


Eilean Siar
8
641,086
5
18,785
11
1,548,688
5
73,405


Falkirk 
6
21,849
15
1,194,016
19
260,784
4
111,012


Fife 
51
1,477,887
60
1,079,832
55
657,211
16
326,429


Glasgow City 
50
536,374
62
7,011,050
60
979,220
43
1,866,534


Highland 
40
2,003,645
50
2,103,542
41
1,198,393
23
751,463


Inverclyde
12
101,653
12
65,085
15
768,582
9
40,119


Midlothian 
9
141,635
21
1,270,731
18
128,690
5
771,730


Moray
8
26,635
17
134,583
10
91,332
6
26,186


North Ayrshire
16
62,371
39
775,704
22
106,951
13
510,794


North Lanarkshire 
57
198,437
49
688,244
46
667,542
33
1,765,149


Orkney Isles
7
157,166
11
171,545
6
23,840
4
15,204


Perth & Kinross
21
93,733
25
964,603
30
237, 744
7
96,629


Renfrewshire
22
265,248
23
1,156,665
25
278,510
13
133,432


Scottish Borders
20
273,032
30
225,665
21
507,287
25
289,391


Shetland Isles
3
279,680
3
11,662
1
28,603
8
506,046


South Ayrshire
17
67,053
22
907,536
21
193,426
6
400,615


South Lanarkshire 
51
615,782
51
375,739
55
1,489,770
19
244,007


Stirling 
25
217,159
17
324,920
19
90,698
4
20,617


West Dunbartonshire 
18
338,295
7
23,839
14
265,113
7
353,257


West Lothian 
23
1,185,102
32
674,083
27
317,154
5
112,547


Totals
739
13,491,403
887
23,731,543
862
16,719,091
379
12,825,921

Sport

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the value was of  sportscotland awards made in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002, (d) 2003 and (e) 2004, broken down by local authority area.

Patricia Ferguson: I refer the member to the question S2W-13385 on 26 January 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Sport

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many applications for  sportscotland awards were received in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002, (d) 2003 and (e) 2004, broken down by local authority area.

Patricia Ferguson: The information requested is not held centrally.

Tourism

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage tourists from Japan to visit Scotland.

Patricia Ferguson: VisitScotland works closely with VisitBritain to market Scotland as a visitor destination to the Japanese market, with Scotland a key element of the Britain brand. After London, Scotland is the most enquired-about destination within Britain among the many people who contact VisitBritain offices across the world.

  However, VisitScotland also targets the Japanese market directly through trade and public relation activities. VisitScotland takes every opportunity to work closely with major travel trade operators in Japan in order to encourage Japanese tourists to come to Scotland.

Transport (Scotland) Bill

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how the statement in section 17 of the Transport (Scotland) Bill that "The Scottish Road Works Commissioner shall keep a register, to be known as the Scottish Road Works Register" is consistent with its agreement of 1 March 2000 with Susiephone Ltd to allow it to be the sole keeper of the Scottish Road Works Register.

Nicol Stephen: Under the terms of the Transport (Scotland) Bill, it is proposed that the Scottish Road Works Commissioner shall become the keeper of the Scottish Road Works Register. The Scottish Executive is in discussion with Susiephone Ltd about the contractual arrangements associated with the register.

Weeds Act 1959

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the forthcoming Animal Welfare Bill will provide any additional protection to that afforded by the Weeds Act 1959 in respect of the control of ragwort infestation in, or in proximity to, pastures grazed by horses or cattle.

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the forthcoming Animal Welfare Bill will provide any additional protection to that afforded by the Weeds Act 1959 in respect of the control of ragwort infestation in, or in proximity to, pastures used for the production of forage crops to be consumed by horses or cattle.

Ross Finnie: No.

Weeds Act 1959

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what procedures it uses to serve enforcement notices and actions under the Weeds Act 1959.

Ross Finnie: All written complaints about ragwort are investigated by the Executive. Where the complaint relates to other than agricultural land, the complaint is passed on to the relevant authority.

  In cases where the occupier of agricultural land fails to take action to control injurious weeds identified in the Weeds Act 1959, having been requested to do so by officials, the Executive will serve a notice on the occupier by recorded delivery, requiring that action be taken within a specified period to control the specified weed.

  The Executive may also employ a contractor to undertake control action and charge the occupier for the costs incurred.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Holyrood Project

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what its role was in the making of "The Gathering Place".

Robert Brown MSP (on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): As Sir David Steel told members on 9 June 1999, there was an agreement which pre-dated the Parliament and the SPCB’s existence, that access be provided to Wark Clements Productions, who had been commissioned by the BBC to produce a documentary. The agreement entered into by the Scottish Office was to grant full access to the site and to deliberations and to offer the support of the central characters, with the proviso that individuals could decline to take part. Members of the SPCB have been interviewed for the documentary and the film makers occasionally attended and filmed our deliberations and those of the Holyrood Progress Group. Continued access to the site was also given. Beyond that, the SPCB has had no role in making the film.

Internet Services

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what action it is taking to reduce the number of spam emails received in the Parliament.

John Scott MSP (on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): In January 2004 SPCB agreed to endorse the recommendation that an email filtering policy be adopted by the Scottish Parliament. As a result of this policy an average of approximately 300,000 spam emails per month are being successfully filtered. The majority of emails successfully filtered are targeted at member accounts and currently account for approximately 60% of all email received by the Parliament.

MSPs

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether the SPCB has any plans to commission research to monitor the levels of public contact and other activity undertaken by MSPs.

Andrew Welsh MSP (on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): The SPCB has no current plans do so. In December 2004 the SPCB agreed to buy a module of questions in the MORI Social Attitudes Survey which began on 20 January. This will cover public awareness levels of the role and work of the Parliament, their attitudes towards it and the perceptions of the impact of the Parliament on their lives. It will not monitor levels of public contact with MSPs or other activities undertaken by MSPs.

Parliamentary Staff

George Lyon (Argyll and Bute) (LD): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it will consider any new arrangements to allow new and temporary staff greater freedom to move around the Parliament before their security clearance is obtained.

Andrew Welsh MSP (Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): The current system is in place in order to ensure a safe and secure environment for all who access the Parliament. Allowing greater freedom of movement prior to obtaining security clearance could compromise security so the Corporate Body has no plans to put in place new arrangements.

Pensions

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what progress has been made in providing an occupational pension scheme for MSPs’ staff.

Duncan McNeil MSP (Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): The SPCB is not providing an Occupational Pension scheme for MSPs’ staff. MSPs employ their own staff, the costs of which are met from the Allowances Scheme. It will be a contractual matter between the MSP and his or her staff on the provision of an Occupational Pension. What the SPCB is doing, as an agent of the individual MSP, is to provide assistance by obtaining the services of an Independent Financial Adviser to help procure a panel of Group Personal Pension Plans that will be attractive to Members’ staff. A specification for the provision of an Independent Financial Adviser’s services has been drafted. This will be followed by an appointment of a financial adviser. Thereafter there will be a procurement exercise to secure pension providers.

Smoking

Christine May (Central Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what assistance and advice it is providing to staff of the Parliament to give up smoking.

Duncan McNeil MSP (Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): Our smoking policy provides advice on a number of support agencies who will provide advice and guidance on how to give up smoking. We will also pay half the cost of nicotine replacement therapy up to a maximum of £248 per annum.

  Through our occupational health provider, staff can arrange to attend smoking cessation classes. They also have access to our confidential counselling service.

  Two staff in the Personnel Office are currently being trained to provide smoking cessation support either through group sessions or on a one-to-one basis on demand.

Smoking

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it has any plans to review its position on the Parliament’s smoking room.

Duncan McNeil MSP (Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): Yes. We keep all of our policies under review as a matter of course. Since the whole issue of smoking is to be the subject of parliamentary debate, we decided to review our position on the provision of a smoking room when the Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Bill reaches Stage 1.